


Newcomer

by SuperLeon



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Abuse, Gen, Mystery, Non-Graphic Violence, Past Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-30
Updated: 2015-09-24
Packaged: 2018-01-10 13:32:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1160284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperLeon/pseuds/SuperLeon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Vocaloid crew meets a fresh new face in the form of a shy, blue-haired boy. Not everyone is too excited about his arrival, but soon, things will be flipped upside down in the Vocaloid household...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Introductions

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on my FF.net account. Starts off innocent enough, takes a bit of a left-turn later. Enjoy.

    "This is our new friend! Make sure everyone is nice to him, alright?"  
  
    Len didn't like him from the very start. While everyone else rushed over to ask questions and introduce themselves, he remained at the back of the group, arms over his chest, indignant. Even when Master gave him a nudge toward the group, he stood stock still, glaring at the blue-haired menace. He'd hiss if the others hadn't been watching him, but he was sure the steely look in his eyes was enough.  
  
    "What's your name? I'm Miku!"  
  
    Holding her hand out, Miku was met with a bow, which took her a little off guard.  
  
    "N-nice to meet you. My name is Kaito."  
  
    "Waah! He's so proper!"  
  
    Len's annoyance only proved to be doubled once he saw that his sister accepted the stranger. The next few minutes were spent in the kitchen, everyone asking various things about the new Vocaloid that he responded to with a degree of bashfulness. Each laugh he could ellict from one of the others set Len on edge, and the blond finally decided to move up to his room before he was yelling. He wanted to stay as far away from the newcomer as possible, and getting into an argument with him would have only proved counterintuitive.  
  
    Besides, the others would only berate him for it. They saw him as an innocent new singer willing to join the group. Only Len saw the true menace underneath it all.  
  
    "Kaito is so _cute_!"  
  
    Rin burst into the room, trotting over to land on Len's chest and catch him in a bear-hug while she continued to squeal over Kaito. The blond managed to pry his sister off of him and rolled away to face the wall with a huff. Still smiling, she sat on the edge of the bed cross-legged and put a hand on her twin's shoulder.  
  
    "You're _jealous_ , aren't you?"  
  
    "What!?" He turned back to her, jolted up. "I'm not 'jealous'. I just don't like him, ok? He looks like a total jerk..."  
  
    "Well you won't know until you finally decide to meet him, right?" She leaned forward to whisper, playfully. "Spoiler alert: he's super nice."  
  
    "Oh, be quiet. I don't wanna meet him. I'm not gonna talk to him."  
  
    Rin jumped up, then promptly trotted over to her side of the room, opening a chest of drawers.  
  
    "Well whatever. Master will have you singing with him in no time, and you _can't_ say no to him."  
  
    Turning back to face him, she flung a purse over her shoulder.  
  
    "And where are _you_ going?" Len slumped back into a lying position.  
  
    "You don't care."  
  
    "Fine, whatever."  
  
    "C'mon, lighten up, Len. We were going out for ice cream to celebrate for Kaito."  
  
    "Why? He hasn't done anything worth celebrating."  
  
    "Yeah, but he loves ice cream. You can come too, if you promise to be nice..."  
  
    "No. I'm not going anywhere if he's going too."  
  
    "Then I guess you won't be leaving the house anymore, 'cause he's one of us now."  
  
    With a final overenthusiastic spin, she left the room, only sparing a small wave for Len. He shoved his head into his pillow, feeling the urge to yell once again, but deciding to listen to his music instead.  
  
    "I don't need them. They can make friends with him if they want, but I'll be right in the end. I can just look at him and tell he's no good."  
  
    He managed to drift off to sleep without even noticing, holding on to his pillow and letting his music fuel his dreams. About an hour later, the room door was slowly pushed open, letting the light from the hallway flood in. A shadow loomed across the room, looking eerie as it splayed across the yellow curtains and over Rin's empty bed. When Len shifted, the intruder stopped, but was quickly sneaking forward once more. It settled next to his bed. A hand reached out to Len's shoulder as the blond was waking, and-  
  
    " _Aaah_!"  
  
    The blond shot up, but, too close to the edge, slipped off of the bed. Just after an adjoining scream ended, his eyes were up in a glare. His heart was pounding in his chest. His rage was only sparked anew. Of _course_ it had to be Kaito.  
  
    "Is everyone okay?"  
  
    Master rushed into the room, accompanied by Gakupo, Rin, and a less-than-worried Miku. With the light switched on, the scene was exposed.  
  
    "Kaito just snuck into my room! He was probably trying to steal something..." He started under his breath, "Or maybe kill me in my sleep..."  
  
    "What? No! I was just going to ask if you wanted some ice-cream. Rin said you weren't feeling well, so I thought you would feel left out..."  
  
    "Kaito," Rin had taken a guilty and simultaneously sympathetic look. "You--didn't have to do that."  
  
    "I'm sorry, please don't be upset with me."  
  
    "No one is upset, Kaito." Master was the first to respond.  
  
    Len, though, was incredulous.  
  
    " _I'm_ upset! He just snuck into my room without permission!"  
  
    " _Our_ room, you mean." Rin took the time to settle onto her bed. "And I'm sure it won't happen again, Kaito just has to get used to everything."  
  
    "So no-one's gonna take my feelings into account? Everyone is on his side 'cause he's new?"  
  
    Miku yawned, stopping any possible responses to Len's argument. She'd already been dressed in her pyjamas and seemed absolutely nonplussed with the situation.  
  
    "Can we all just get some sleep? We'll feel better in the morning, I know I will, anyway."  
  
    "Miku is right," Gakupo chimed in. "Let's all get to bed, okay? We'll talk this out in the morning."  
  
    As everyone left, agreeing with the sentiment, Kaito took a moment to turn back to Len and utter a silent apology. The blond only glared back at him as a response.  
  
    "Len..." Rin whispered across the room.  
  
    "What?"  
  
    "Give him a chance."  
  
    "A chance to murder me in my sleep? No thank you."  
  
    "Whatever, Len."


	2. Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boys crying and friendships or something.

↺A week had passed, and it still wasn't enough for Len's hatred to fade. The more he was able to avoid the blue-haired menace, the more his feelings could settle into a dull burn sitting at the back of his mind at any given moment. Despite how eager the newcomer seemed to make friends with him, Len was either out of earshot or ignoring him each time he had the chance to speak with the blond. It wasn't until they were at the DIVA set that Len was forced by circumstance to speak to Kaito.

He gagged as the others ogled over his new outfit, rolling his eyes whenever he would again evade their compliments bashfully.

"Len," Miku called over to the blond, and he had to debate looking over at her. "Don't you like Kaito's new outfit? Isn't it cool?"

Len had to admit that he was impressed—at least—that Kaito managed to get the most self-centered girl in the universe to compliment anyone but herself.

He shrugged. "It's not all that great. Everyone got new clothes, so what?"

"C'mon Len!" Rin was the first to protest his indifference. "Don't be rude!"

"No, it's alright."

Kaito smiled slightly, causing the blond to choke once again. He was going to get diabetes if he stuck around the newcomer for much longer. When that same saccharine smile was sent his way, it took all Len had not to glare in response.

"You look really nice in your new outfit, Len."

"Yeah, whatever..."

"Len," Miku stood akimbo. "The least you could do is thank him for that! Why do you have to be so rude to Kai-chan?"

" _Please_ , he doesn't even look that great! Just because he has a new outfit doesn't mean you all have to fawn over him like fangirls or whatever. I think the suit looks bad anyway!"

With his anger finally boiling over, Len had spoken his mind in front of everyone-even Kaito. A moment of silence came behind his words as everyone simply stared at the veteran Vocaloid, shocked that he'd spoken out. After another moment, Len turned on his heel and stomped away.

"Um..." Kaito, steadying his voice, turned away from the group. "I'm sorry—I'll just..."

Without another word, he rushed off to his dressing room, any attempts to stop him failing. It wasn't an ideal fallout-if such a thing existed, but Len was glad to have finally cleared his chest. He could already imagine the lecture he'd get from Master, not to mention all of the heat he'd get from everyone else. But none of that mattered at the moment. Shutting himself in his dressing room, he simply waited.

...

Len was more than just a bit surprised when no one had come to get him for about an hour, and was taken even more off-guard when it was his sister, who seemingly had no negative comments for him.

"I'm singing with Kamui-sama?"

Rin nodded. "You were supposed to have a duet with Kaito, but he hasn't let anyone into his room, and he still doesn't want to talk to any of us. So, y'know."

She shrugged with a little sigh. Len didn't want to admit it, but he felt a bit guilty hearing that. He hadn't meant to hurt the others' feelings to such an extent, he only wanted to get his point across. Perhaps he was jealous. It would make sense, considering he was the center of attention before all of this began. He didn't want anyone taking his place. After he nodded to her, Rin left the room and shut the door behind herself. He'd made up his mind, begrudgingly so. Apologizing to Kaito was the right thing to do.

When he was sure no one else was around, Len made his way to Kaito's dressing room. He knocked lightly so as not to draw more attention than needed. When there was no answer, Len sighed.

"Um...Kaito?"

Nothing.

"Kaito...I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier...It was really mean of me, and—"

He looked around once more.

"—I shouldn't have said all those things. I know you mean well and all, it's just..."

"..."

When the door opened, Len looked up from his feet to see Kaito partially peeking out. From what was visible, it looked as though the new Vocaloid's eyes were still red, like he'd been crying the entire time.

"You can...come in, if you want..."

"Uh...thank you."

Kaito moved aside to allow the blond entrance, then shut the door behind him. He stared at the floor for a moment before he could face Len. It was immediately obvious that Len's guess was correct, based on his eyes, which were still a bit puffy, and the flush across his face. He'd been crying until not too long ago. Len didn't have enough malice within him to want an outcome like that.

"Um, I..." Kaito began, trailing off.

"Did you hear me?"

Kaito looked up at the other.

"I mean, just now, when I was outside. I'm sorry— _really_ sorry, okay? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings or anything, I was just upset. I shouldn't have taken it out on you like that."

"It's fine, really." Kaito tried at a weak smile. "I shouldn't get so upset over little things like this. You don't _have_ to like my outfit, right? I..."

"Kaito."

So it wasn't a ploy. It wasn't some kind of trick just to get under Len's skin. The blue-haired Vocaloid was really just that bashful, and almost helplessly so.

"You don't have to apologize, it was my fault. I want us to be friends from now on, okay?"

"Do you...really mean that, Len?"

The blond nodded.

"Wow...that's all I really wanted. Maybe we can be _best_ friends!"

"Yeah, that would be nice, Kaito."↺


	3. Sadism

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the left turn.

"Why...?"

Miku fell to her knees, shocked into a stupor by the sight in front of her. She'd dropped everything,eyes wide, her entire form trembling uncontrollably. The tears poured from her eyes in rivers while her hands clenched desperately at the carpet underneath her. Unable to hold back anymore, a scream ripped from her throat, and her vision went dark, her eyes rolling back into her head.

...

"Meiko-oneechan..."

Rin cried weakly, standing outside of their home as the police rummaged through it. An ambulance had come earlier, wheeling Meiko out on a stretcher before anything else. But they were far too late. She was pronounced dead at the scene, and even without medical training, one could have figured that much. Miku had also been removed, however, she was only unconscious, traumatized at what she'd seen upon finding Meiko's corpse. The twins huddled up around Gakupo, with Kaito close behind.

"Why, why did this have to happen?"

She continued, voice shaking. Gakupo placed a hand on her head, holding his own emotions back to appear strong for the younger Vocaloids. Once Master had dealt with the paramedics and authorities, he came over to the group, crouching to be at eye-level with the twins. His face was lined with grief.

"Miku is going to be alright. But..."

"Meiko," Len began, holding back tears. "She's not...she's..."

"It's alright, Len. It's okay to cry."

Trying again to hold back, Len buried his face in his hands, shaking with silent sobs. Gakupo pulled him closer.

Master stood to speak to Kaito and Gakupo.

"They aren't sure about anything right now, but they suspect that it was a murder. They think the suspect ran when Miku showed up, who knows where they could have gone..."

"This is all so scary..."

Kaito looked over at Miku, awake and trembling in the back of an ambulance as the police tried fruitlessly to speak to her. She only shook her head, eyes wide in terror. Master seemed to be watching the same scene with an unspoken pain. He sighed heavily.

"We'll need to stay somewhere else for the time being. Hopefully they'll finish the investigation soon. I just need to get a few things..."

With permission from the police, Master re-entered their home, disappearing soon after. The night, illuminated in red and blue, was nearly silent aside from the quiet sobs coming from the twins.

...

"Of course you all can stay here. After all of this, I'm sure you'll need some rest."

Luka looked down with pity at the twins as they stood by the door, eyes listless, sore from crying. Even after everyone had been invited in, they seemed to refuse to sit, choosing to stand by each other silently. While everyone was grieving, Kaito seemed bothered by something. He couldn't hear the others calling out to him, too lost in his own mind. He bit his nails nervously. Slowly, he was breaking down.

"If they're still out there...what if they come back? What if they want to hurt everyone else? I don't wanna die...I don't want anyone to die..."

"Kaito," Gakupo stood, stopping his pacing. "No one's going to hurt us, not anymore. We're safe now."

"How do you know?"

Kaito wrapped his arms around himself, nails digging into his arms through the fabric of his coat. Len finally responded to something, looking over to Kaito with dead eyes.

"They got away, right? That means...they aren't done."

"Kaito..." Master began, looking hopeless. His voice expressed just as much. "The authorities will handle everything. For now, we're safe staying with Luka. Please, just...relax."

The blue-haired vocaloid stared for a moment, still shaking. If this had to happen, why now? He was still new to the group, inexperienced, nervous.

Kaito was reluctant to move, but settled into a chair at Master's request. He closed his eyes.

"I understand that this is a lot to take in. Meiko...she's really...gone. It's scary just to think about. But please, feel free to make yourself comfortable while you're here."

After assuring everyone was alright, Luka left to make them tea. Len walked over to Kaito grimly, leaving Rin to stand in the corner alone. He wanted to apologize, to reassure him that nothing like this would ever happen again. But, no matter how much he wanted to speak, no words would come. Instead, it was Kaito who spoke;

"I'm sorry..."


	4. Heavily

Neither the doctors nor the nurses could get her to utter a single word. Alone, she didn't make a sound. Someone had turned the television on earlier, and the murder was all over the news. She sat stock-still, board straight against the back of the hospital bed. Meiko was gone. Killed right in front of her. She couldn't help, couldn't stop it. All she did was scream. She was helpless.

People were speaking by the door, someone came in. She didn't look. She didn't care anymore. What could they want?

"Miku?"

She jolted. Her throat tightened. It was _him_.

"I heard that you wouldn't speak to anyone. Are you a mute now? That would be such a shame, you have a beautiful voice."

She didn't respond, her entire being trembling. How could they have let him in? Didn't they know? No, of course they didn't- because she couldn't tell them...

"It's kind of a good thing, though. Now you can't tell anyone what happened; I don't have to kill you just yet."

He came over and sat on the bed, began playing with the stray strands of hair along her bangs. She would have screamed if she could find her voice, would have fought if her body permitted her to move, but she was frozen in place absolutely. He hummed slightly as he tortured her.

"They've all left the house, now they're with Luka. Gorgeous Luka...I wonder how she'll sing when I kill her. Meiko had a wonderful voice, and her insides were..."

He smirked.

"Well, you were there. You saw them too."

Miku felt the bile rising in her throat as her stomach turned. She wrenched her eyes shut, but nothing could stop the tears from falling. Gods, she wanted to run.

"Anyway, I think they're all coming to visit you today. Try not to make them upset..."

His hand trailed down her cheek and wrapped around her throat. There wasn't enough force to choke her, but just enough to make her uncomfortable. It was the thought more so than the action that made her panic.

"...Okay?"

She fell over, unconscious.

...

"I don't want to..."

Kaito stopped outside of the hospital, the rest of the group leaving him by a few steps. They paused, looking back.

"I'm sorry...It's just-- really scary."

"Kaito..." Rin was wringing her hands, nervous as well. ""It'll be okay. She needs to see us-- _all_ of us."

It had been around a week since the incident, and the house was still fairly unsettled, of course. The police were still working on their investigation, keeping Master updated, but also keeping them from going back to their home. Even though Luka had offered them a stay for as long as they needed, they still felt as though they were imposing.

"She can't speak or anything, right? What if she needs help? What if something happens?"

"--I'll stay outside with you, Kaito." Len offered, leaving the group. He was just as afraid as Kaito, if not more so. He stood next to Kaito.

"I wanna see her, but..." Len focused on his feet. "It's scary. I don't want anything to happen. Just tell her...I was here."

He couldn't meet the eyes of his friends, but noticed Kaito looking down at him as they stood beside one another. He looked as though he wanted to speak, but couldn't form the words. Master eyed them both carefully. It was understandable that they were nervous about seeing Miku again, and he didn't want to push them into something they didn't want to do, but...

"Len--"

"You should go, Len." Kaito interrupted before Master could finish his sentence. He looked around at everyone, then to Len. "Um...she's known you for much longer than me-- if I don't show up it probably won't even mean anything. But...you're her friend. She needs to see you."

"Kaito...?"

"Please go, Len." Kaito looked down at his feet. He didn't want to argue with Len.

The blond hesitated for a moment.

"...Alright, I'll go... if you think that's best..."

He looked clearly unsure of his decision, but still moved back to his place by Rin. As the group vanished into the hospital doors, Kaito wrung his hands nervously. He looked down, face hidden by his bangs.

"I'll wait for everyone. I'll be good..."


	5. Introspection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just now realizing that Meiko kinda just showed up in Chapter three just to die horribly.

Rin ran out of the room, shaking with sobs and almost unable to breathe. That couldn't have been Miku, it simply couldn't have. The pale, dead-eyed girl she'd seen in there wasn't her best friend, she wasn't the girl who'd been just like a sister to her for years. She was a cold, empty doll that had been weathered down and broken by everything that had happened. She couldn't even speak. It was almost like she didn't recognize any of them, simply staring off into the air.

Len did his best to console his twin, but he could hardly stop his own trembling. What he'd seen in that room was merely a shell of a girl. Anyone who could do that to a person had to be some form of monster, that was the only way he could explain it to himself.

"Let's go back outside with Kaito."

He leaned down in an attempt to make eye-contact with his twin, but she'd kept her face covered to rein in the tears. Rin simply nodded to show her understanding.  
It was another half-hour before Master and Gakupo stepped out of the hospital doors. They'd found Kaito standing next to the bench just outside as Len and Rin rested on it, the female twin just recovering from her fit of sobbing. The two eldest shared a momentary look, seemingly debating on whether they should speak. With a sigh, Master decided. He moved closer to put a hand on Len's shoulder.

"We...the doctors say they don't exactly know how things will turn out. Hopefully, with some time, she'll heal and come back to us. But..."

Rin had uncovered her face, looking up at Master with some semblance of hope in her eyes. He didn't want to harm that hope, but knew he had to tell the truth.

"She might not ever be the same. What happened-- what she saw that day was something traumatic. After therapy and time, we'll see how things go."

Rin tried to hold back, but sobbed out again, doubling in two with the pain.

...

"Have they told you what happened, exactly?"

Luka spoke carefully, sitting with Master as they shared tea. Kaito, Gakupo, and the twins were in the guest rooms, worn out by the day's events. He paused for a moment, the stress written over his face more clearly than usual. They'd given him some details, of course, but he could hardly stomach it. He was thankful that they'd left out any other, more gruesome details.

"He either came in through the window or he was invited in. There was a busted window, I know, but...why would Meiko invite someone she didn't know into the house? She was more careful than that..."

"Maybe she knew him? You're right, Meiko was smart enough to know how to handle herself, but she wouldn't hesitate to let in a familiar face, right?"

He didn't want to believe it, no one did.

"Who would do something like this? Why would they? I just..."

Luka put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It's alright. Sometimes you don't know someone as well as you think. Let me get you some more tea."

As the pink-haired woman stood, Master quickly caught her by the wrist. He wasn't exactly hit with the idea, but hearing Luka's words had brought it back from the back of his mind. He didn't want to admit that it was the very first thought to flash by him when he'd heard, didn't want to mention the suspicion he'd treated the situation with. She looked back to him carefully.

"Luka...do you think, maybe..."

"—Master?"

He stopped, letting go of Luka when he heard Len's voice. The blond entered the kitchen, eyes red from crying.

"Len. How's your sister?"

"She's asleep. Kaito and Kamui-sama are in their room talking about something."

He must have gotten lonely, then.

"How are you feeling?"

Luka continued to prepare a fresh pot of tea, sparing a small glance at Master one more time.

"I'm tired...I miss Miku."

Another tear seemed to escape him, despite the front he was trying to put on over his emotions.

"I know, Len. We all miss her. I'm sorry."

Master put a hand against his head, seemingly warding off a headache as Luka went to hug the small blond. For a moment, there was silence, but it was soon accompanied by the blond's small, sobbing noises. He shook somewhat, holding on to Luka like he could collapse any moment. When things settled down, he went back to his room. Master looked over to Luka, who seemed too preoccupied with the tea to bring up their previous conversation.

"Luka..."

"...Yes?"

"About what I was saying before—"

"Do you want my honest opinion?"

He waited. Waited almost a minute for her to return to the table and place the tea down.

"I'm...scared, honestly. I want to leave all of this behind. I don't want to believe that someone close to us could have hurt Meiko that way. But..."

She paused once again to take a small sip, looking down warily.

"If that's what you think, you should tell the police. Personally, I wouldn't confront them, but...that may be the best option."

She looked back to him with honesty in her eyes. Clearly, she was scared, unwilling to even think of the possibility of someone like that being so close. He dropped the conversation afterwards, but took her words to heart

...

"What do you think?"

Kaito had mainly been avoiding all eye-contact with Gakupo as he sat on the bed. The purple-haired vocaloid was roaming around the room, idling himself with the drawers and small trinkets. He even seemed to test out the stability of the desk chair at the other end of the room, stalling. Kaito looked up as Gakupo stood in front of him.

"What do I...think?"

He waited, looking down.

"I'm really scared. I want them to stop the person who did this."

"Anyone could say that."

Kaito met Gakupo's eyes again.

"What are you thinking _really_? Why would someone do this?"

"I...sometimes people just do bad things, right? I don't know what to say."

Gakupo sighed, settling down at the other end of the bed.

"I guess asking you isn't really fair. Sorry, I'm just nervous."

"Everyone is, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Everyone's scared and nervous. Everyone wishes that none of this had happened and that everything could go back to normal. But they won't. They won't, and we know that for sure. But we don't want to admit it, right?"

"Kaito?"

"It's better to just imagine that you'll wake up tomorrow in a place where this never happened. It feels better that way, I think. Less real, less frightening."

The bluenette had put his hands against his head, pressing the base of his palm into his temples as though he was hit with a sudden migraine. Gakupo leaned back up into a sitting position to check on the younger vocaloid, finding that he was staring off into nothing, but almost like he'd seen something there.

"I wanna pretend. I wanna make pretend it wasn't real,"

"—Kaito,"

"No, no, I'm sorry. I'll be good. I'll stop. I—"

" _Kaito_."

A hand placed on his shoulder stopped the brunette's sudden rambling. He looked over to Gakupo after a moment, not seeming to process anything aside from the hand on him.

"...You need rest."

"I...?"

Kaito put his hands back at his sides, still staring at Gakupo.

"Rest..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I miss Miku"  
> Hm, I can probably get away with that, right?


	6. Murder

"Hmm~."

Something flashed in front of her. Luka realized that he'd lifted the lamp, bringing it above his head with a small grin.

"I always thought you were the prettiest, Luka. No contest, honestly!"

When the plug fell from the wall, the room was nearly pitch-black again. Luka struggled in her bonds, but they only seemed to get tighter as she did so. Screaming was no good, as the fabric around her mouth refused to yeild, even at the decibels she could reach. Once she realized how helpless she was, it sank in like ice water dripping over her shoulders. This was where she would die. She would end up just like Meiko, an unsolvable case.

"Luka,"

He inched closer to her, grin spreading. Her eyes screwed shut.

"Luka, look at me~."

She refused, thrashing and struggling as hard as she could through the bindings.

" _Luka_!"

Her eyes shot open. Rather than the grin she'd seen before, it was Gakupo, a worried expression across his features. 

She looked around quickly, panicked, but realized that she was in her room, safe, under her blankets—somewhat.

"Are you alright?"

"Kamui...what happened?"

"You were having a bad dream, it's okay now."

He stroked his hand through her hair, trying at a smile to calm her down. But, after everything that had happened recently, he couldn't avoid it looking somewhat forced. She still appreciated the effort.

"I guess I'm scared too, then."

"We all are."

"But..."

She sat up, removing the sheets altogether. Gakupo gave her room to do so.

"You...you don't feel like you're in danger, right?"

"I suppose not...the suspect ran, didn't he? I don't think he'd come back."

"No, it's just...He...Because I'm a woman, you know? I feel like he only went after Meiko because she was a woman. If it had been you or Master at home, he would have left, right?"

"Where's this coming from?"

He managed to pull the pink-haired vocaloid into an embrace, stroking her hair soothingly. Luka sighed and leaned into his shoulder.

"I dunno...maybe it's just the dream. I'm still a little tired..."

"Then sleep. You have all day, don't you? Get some rest, you need it."

"Thank you..."

...

Gakupo heard the sounds of rummaging through a drawer before getting to the kitchen, planning to retrieve a glass of water for Luka. He had to wonder who would be awake at this hour, the sun only just rising, knowing the others were still recovering from the days before.

He wasn't as surprised as he should have been to see Kaito, standing in the kitchen and absently searching through one of the silverware drawers.

"Kaito...?"

The blunette stopped suddenly, his expression seeming to change subtly. He continued searching through the drawers, more frantically now. Gakupo kept his distance.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm resting. Don't I need to rest? It's okay."

He gripped the side of the drawer, the wood groaning as it threatened to snap. The blunette seemed to get more frantic as he searched, not finding or completely skipping over whatever it was he wanted. He continued to speak, almost to himself, as Gakupo dared to step closer.

"Kaito, you need to stop. Just calm down and go back to bed,"

He moved yet closer, finally coming close enough to place a hand on Kaito's shoulder.

" _Don't_!"

Kaito turned as soon as he felt the hand on him, lashing out in a panic with a knife. The elder Vocaloid immediately recoiled, the blade slashing across the palm of his hand and drawing blood. Still in a panic, Kaito stumbled backwards, landing against the drawer and falling when it couldn't support his weight. The sound of silverware crashing against the floor seemed deafening in the otherwise dead silent home. Kaito shuddered. He cradled the knife close to him and Gakupo did the same with his wounded hand.   
Master was the first to respond to the noise with Len and Luka just behind him.

"What the hell is going on in here?"

He took a quick glimpse over the scene, Kaito looking shocked and terrified on the floor while Gakupo tried to stop his wound from bleeding. Luka hurried over to Gakupo's side to look over his hand while Len was stunned.

Master took a deep breath. He was tired, warding off a headache from the few fleeting hours he'd actually gotten of sleep. 

"Kaito,"

The blue-haired vocaloid jumped at his name.

"Go back to your room and wait for me there, alright? Come on, Kamui, I'll take care of your hand."

As they left the kitchen, Kaito was still grounded. He shakily got to his feet once Len stepped closer, past the kitchen barrier, looking wary of him. 

"Kaito...are you...?"

"I'm sorry," He kept his eyes downcast. "You should...go back to sleep."

Looking dazed, the blunette made his way out. Len paused a moment to watch. 

When Luka was assured everything would be alright, she guided Len back into his room before disappearing in her own. Master and Gakupo were the only two left in the dining room, silent, hardly sparing glances at one another. Master had rifled through a few drawers the room over, finding tools where he knew Luka always kept them before he turned back to Gakupo.

"I'll have to cut off the pain receptors in your hand, is that alright?"

Gakupo nodded, just as wary of eye contact as Master was even as he was knelt in front of him to start working on his hand.

The sun was steadily starting to peak over the horizon. Light flooded in from any opening it could reach, and the birds chirping outside were the only sound in the silence between the two. Master had cleaned away the blood and placed a synthetic layer over Gakupo's hand before he spoke. 

"What was he doing?"

"Kaito?"

Master nodded. There was a pause.

"He was just...going through the kitchen drawer. I asked him what he was doing, and he just said he was "resting" and that it was "okay". When I got too close he swiped at me."  
Gakupo looked over his hand once Master was done, flexing his fingers to test it's stability.

"He was talking to himself, it sounded like...Do you think that--"

"No. It'll be fine."

He put the tools away. It was too late for him to sleep now.

"Kaito's just...nervous."

"We're all 'nervous'."

"I know, but it's different for him, Kaito's--"

He was stopped when a scream ripped through the house. Gakupo nearly leapt out of his seat and sprinted behind Master down the hall and to Luka's room. 

Kaito stood by the window in Luka's room, looking out at the budding sunlight with another knife in his hand. A stream of tears flowed down his face when he turned back to the others.

"I'm sorry..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote the first part of this chapter in September last year so idk if it sounds a little different from the rest that's why.


	7. Safe

She was soaked in blood, still gasping for air, and Gakupo was the first to run over in an attempt to help her. The knife in Kaito's hand clattered as it hit the floor. He pulled his hand away like he was afraid he'd pick it back up, watching the scene in front of him, shaking. Master moved to quickly block the door to keep Rin and Len, awakened by the scream, from entering.

"Luka! Luka, you're okay. You're going to be alright, just hang on, _please_."

"What's going on?"

Rin, still stuck at the doorway, pulled on Master's shirt, voice shaking. Master turned, being careful to still block her vision. Len was standing next to her, he looked just as shaken.

"It's nothing. Go back to your room and wait, alright? Everything will be okay."

"No it won't."

Len surprised him as he spoke out. He already seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"It won't be okay. It happened again, didn't it? Luka, is she—"

" _You_ did this!"

As Luka went silent, Gakupo turned his attention to Kaito, who was still standing only inches away. He jumped at the volume of Gakupo's voice before he was forcefully pinned against the window frame by the older Vocaloid. Gakupo had a tight grip on his collar. The rage was easily visible in his eyes.

"What the hell do you want from us!? What did Luka ever do to deserve _this_!?"

"Kamui!"

Master moved to stop the confrontation, but paused, hearing Rin gasp in horror. Eyes wide, she fell to her knees. She felt nauseous. Len crouched next to her in an attempt to console his sister. Things were falling apart.

"I'm sorry!" Kaito choked on a sob, barely struggling against Gakupo. "I'm sorry—I didn't—i-it wasn't me!"

"Then _who_?"

He froze, completely. The sobs stopped, but the tears continued. Kaito looked more terrified than before.

"...I'm sorry..."

Yelling with rage, Gakupo knocked the younger vocaloid to the ground with a solid strike. Kaito cradled his injury, not daring to look up. No longer able to protect the twins, Master stepped between Gakupo and Kaito, stopping Gakupo before he could do any worse. Gakupo still shook with rage, but, unable to stand against him, turned and left the room. The door slammed a few moments later as Master was looking over Luka's body. She remained supine, eyes closed, almost like she'd been sleeping.

"Kaito,"

Master's voice was silent, almost a whisper. Kaito could hardly hear him over Rin's sobbing.

"Who did this?"

"It...it wasn't me."

"Then tell me who it was."

"I..."

He screwed his eyes shut, seemingly in pain.

"I can't tell you..."

...

The room was silent, dim; the gray-painted walls doing nothing to accentuate the already dull light that hung above them. It was meant to wear away at the mind, to look like an inescapable situation. No windows, only a two-way mirror that took up most of the wall that was only shared by the door. A small table, a simple chair. Kaito wrung his hands.

"If you don't consent, we can always get a warrant."

One of the cops, a woman, spoke to him factually. She leaned against the back wall while her partner sat at the table in front of Kaito.

"And no one wants to go through that trouble. If you're innocent, just let us look through your recorded memories and we'll let you go."

Her partner finished with a calmer tone, in an attempt to reach him. Kaito continued to look down at his hands. He heard the other cop sigh.

"Guess we'll have to force our way in. Really, you're just wasting everyone's time here. If I had it my way I'd just force my way into your head, never did like this trend of treating _robots_ like they're actually sentient. Hell, I wouldn't even be on this case if they'd told me ahead of time the victim was just another damn android. We should be working on things that _actually_ matter. Y'know, like actual living breathing humans?"

"That's enough, detective."

Her partner stood, giving Kaito one last chance.

"We just want to help you, alright? No one here is going to hurt you. The quicker this is over, the quicker things can go back to normal, isn't that right?"

Kaito looked up quickly, surprising the two others with the sudden movement.

"Oh? You change your mind?"

"No— I..."

He put his head back down, into his hands.

"I thought...I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you've said that a million times already. Y'know, if you were _really_ sorry, you'd just say yes and let us look through all that incriminating data you've got saved up."

Silence. One of the detectives sighed.

"We'll let you go back to your handler, then. But we'll be coming back with a warrant to continue the investigation. I believe you, Kaito, honestly, but you aren't making things easy for us."

Once again, no response.

\--

"It was _him_!"

A few officers moved to keep Gakupo from lunging when Kaito was brought back to them. Rage and grief had overcome him even in the time he had alone. Even once he figured he was calm, when he'd evened his breathing and made an attempt at coming to terms with the situation, just seeing the blue-haired vocaloid was enough to set him off again. Kaito stopped before he came too close, trying to look as small as possible. Eyes were drawn over to the scene from everywhere.

"Who else could it be!? _He_ killed her, _he_ did this!"

" _Gakupo_ ,"

Master made yet another futile attempt to calm him, glad that the twins weren't there to witness his outbursts.

"We need to wait and let the investigation continue. Kaito didn't have any reason to do this sort of thing. I understand you're upset—"

" _Upset_?"

Incredulous, Gakupo whipped around to face Master. He made a move to speak, to think of some rebuttal, but he was too overcome with grief to think clearly enough. He put a hand to his head to brush his bangs back. After hours of worrying, his hair was a mess. The officers had let him go once he'd stopped yelling and moved only to monitor him when he turned back to Kaito.

A moment passed, no words. Gakupo hurried out of the police station. In the time it took Kaito to shyly approach Master, the detectives had made him aware of the situation and the time it would take to approve a warrant. Kaito seemed only more shamed by their looks as they turned back and dismissed themselves.

"Kaito,"

He didn't look up when Master beckoned him. A jump, however, when his hand rested atop his head. Master brushed some of his hair aside, running his thumb along the poorly-healed scar on Kaito's forehead that was usually hidden.

"It's alright. No one here wants to hurt you..."


	8. [History]

It was a small agreement between friends at the time. Vocaloids were the newest thing, and while they hadn't exactly been rocketing to success quite yet, it only made sense that aspiring musicians would be interested in the latest technology. So they'd decided, they'd both get one and see how things worked out. Worst case scenario, they weren't worth the money (and it would be a lot of money) and they could be quickly sold off to some other musician with too-high hopes. Best-case scenario...well, they weren't really aiming for being famous, but if it happened to work out that way, so be it.

A few months of saving up and cutting corners, and both had just enough to buy the first few that were introduced overseas. A male and a female. There was another female out as well, but she seemed to be in the public eye already and cost a good bit more than her counterparts. It was decided, then; Jirou would buy the Meiko model, Vincent would get Kaito.

"Today's the day, finally getting ahead of the times."

Vincent patted the side of one of the boxes the Vocaloids were delivered in, having to wait a day for the two to charge almost building too much anticipation. Jirou, working his way around the boxes to find a proper opening, humored his friend's excitement.

"We won't be getting ahead of _anything_ if I can't get the box open. Besides, I thought we weren't supposed to get our hopes up?"

"I know, I know. I said that, but that was before we had two life-size singing robots in our house."

"Robots, huh?"

Gliding his hands over the surface of the box, Jirou finally found a release near the bottom, easing the container open. With a bit of struggle Vincent copied the action.

"I think the proper term was 'humanoid androids'."

"Right,"

Vincent scoffed, although marveling the realistic look of the boxed singers.

"They can pretend to be people all they want, they're still robots. Now where's the manual...?"

"Near the bottom,"

Dropping the tangent, Jirou flipped through the impressively-sized manual, skimming every now and again.

"It's all in Japanese, hand me yours."

As instructed Vincent passed the heavy manual over to his friend, sitting back to watch him get everything in place for the startup. With a few button-presses and some voice commands, the Vocaloids were both up and running, almost too-lifelike as they became accustomed to their environment. 

They bowed, nearly in-sync, to their respective masters. They'd teeter just on the other side of uncanny valley, not-exactly perfect features, but not entirely realistic. Like some strange farce, pushing the limits of what technology could re-create. Visually, they couldn't quite yet encompass humans.

"Thank you for purchasing your very own Vocaloid unit!" The female vocaloid began, beaming. "As our instructions state, please make your desired changes to personal settings."

"Is there anything in particular you would like us to address you by?"

Kaito started, more silently than Meiko. Jirou shared a look with Vincent, both seemingly more excited than they'd expected.

"You, the Kaito unit. You're mine, you can call me master."

"Understood, _Master_ , settings have been changed."

Vincent nudged Jirou with a smirk, but the brunette brushed him off.

"You can call me Master too if you'd like, Meiko. Jirou is fine as well."

"Do you have any particular preference?"

"No, just do whatever feels right."

"Understood, _Master_ , _Jirou_ , settings have been changed."

"'Whatever feels right', sure."

Vincent teased him, but he was more caught up in giving his Vocaloid a look-over. Kaito remained still obediently, following Vincent with his eyes and waiting for any order.

"So, do you guys come with any pre-recordings?"

"Can you please clarify, Master?"

"I'm asking if you know any songs already."

"Yes sir, we come with 200 original tracks which can be deleted at request."

"Two-hundred, huh? Sounds like our work is already done for us."

"I'd like to hear a few songs, actually."

Jirou ignored Vincent's joking, genuinely interested in hearing what the Vocaloids were capable of. They began with a duo, then sang individually for the next few songs. He made a note of what they could and couldn't reach with just their base operating system. From what he could hear, this investment might actually go somewhere.

...

"Fucking..."

Another demo, and Jirou found Vincent sitting in the recording booth, rubbing his temples with frustration. He handed his partner a bottled water before opening his own.

"Having trouble...again?"

"He's useless, Jirou. It's the basic things and he still can't get them right."

"It sounds like he's doing fine to me."

"Right, 'fine'."

He put the bottle down harder than necessary, pressing a button in the booth and leaning up to the microphone. 

"Start over. Don't go flat on the chorus this time."

"Yes, Master."

Kaito sounded tired. It was a hazy area on whether or not a humanoid android could honestly feel 'tired', but Jirou knew that running on low energy for hours at a time and being forced to work at full-performance was difficult. For the past few months it had been the same thing, Vincent working Kaito until he nearly shut down from lack of being charged. The Vocaloids were meant to become more and more human based on their interactions with others, and so far Kaito only seemed stressed, tired more often than not. 

He was meek, afraid to speak out of turn knowing Vincent would turn on him for the smallest things. Jirou felt like he was seeing a completely different side of his partner. It was especially venomous when Kaito couldn't sing something 'properly'. It was usually only a few expected mistakes, but Vincent seemed to want perfection on the first attempt. He'd gotten so violent as to actually strike the Vocaloid down, opening a gash on his forehead and leaving Jirou to take care of it. He wasn't entirely sure how to care for the wound, and as a result it hadn't healed properly.

It drew Jirou's eye when it was visible, a reminder of how dangerous his 'friend' could be.

"Vincent it's _alright_. He sounds good, if you push him anymore he'll just--"

"What, _hurt_ himself? Maybe you forgot that he's just a _robot_. He doesn't feel things, Jirou. I bought him to do one thing and he can't even do that right."

He stopped the recording suddenly, speaking to Kaito again.

"It's awful, we're done for today."

Kaito's face goes blank as he nods, exiting the booth.

"Of course, it's easy for you to talk, right Jirou? Your little robot is doing just fine. People can't seem to get enough of _Meiko_."

"I know her limits, Vincent. I don't try to push her to do things she can't and I don't discourage her when she's having a hard time. They react based on what you give them--"

"Can you just shut-up for one second!? You keep pretending, you _keep_ forgetting what these things really are!"

Vincent sends a glare in Kaito's direction, and he understands it as being summoned. As he comes over, however, Vincent grabs his hair roughly, exposing the panel at the back of his neck. He holds down a switch as Kaito struggles somewhat, but the Vocaloid quickly goes limp as he forces a hard shutdown. When Vincent lets go of his hair, Kaito sinks to the ground.

"A robot. An expensive, human-shaped robot."

He leaves Kaito and Jirou in the room, slamming the door behind him. 

...

It isn't long before the constant conflicts had them going their separate ways. Jirou stayed in town, but moved as far away as possible still. A few small recording companies took interest in him, and he took the money he'd earned to purchase the other Vocaloids. It felt refreshing to get away, but even a mention of the Kaito Vocaloid had him remembering the way Vincent had treated his own. He found himself avoiding them, even when updated models were released. 

He fully expected to never see Vincent or Kaito ever again. It left him with a bit of guilt, wondering if Vincent had kept Kaito in such a poisonous place or if he'd sold him like they'd first agreed on. Honestly, he was more likely to simply leave him somewhere, if he didn't find some way to sell him for parts. 

But it was a shock to find him again. He was with the owner of a small store that sold equipment for Vocaloids now that they'd gained significant popularity. The owner claimed Kaito would help around the store on occasion, but was too timid to be seen by the customers. He'd just so happened to appear from the back of the shop as Vincent was entering early in the morning. He'd frozen in place, unsure, but definitely recognizing Jirou's face. Jirou made sure when Kaito approached him, checking for the same scar on his forehead. He'd hidden it from view, but it was still there.

Jirou finally had a chance to rectify things, at least as much as possible. He had the opportunity to show him what it was like to live without the anxiety, without the abuse. Jirou told Kaito as much, but things only seemed to get worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More to come hopefully??? I'm working on a lot of chapters at once and I plan to have two or three endings so stay tuned ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


End file.
